The removal of hydrophobic or hydrocarbon soils is an area of weakness within the laundry cleaning industry. It is well known that hydrocarbon-based greases and oils become embedded in fabric and are difficult to remove. The cost to clean fabrics stained with oily and greasy substances is increased because of the inherent difficulty in removing these types of soils. Often, multiple or repetitive washings are needed or required to achieve satisfactory cleaning.
Removal of oily and greasy stains is a particular problem for industry where these stains are most likely to be encountered. For example, industrial uniforms, auto mechanic towels, and car wash drying rags are typically soiled with hydrophobic oils and greases.
Removal of oily, greasy stains is also a problem in the household laundry washing environment. Household laundry detergents typically are not specifically formulated to clean hydrocarbon-containing soils because they are less commonly encountered in the home. Accordingly, the surfactants and builders used to formulate household laundry detergents would not be expected to be as effective at removing oily and greasy soils such as motor oil.
An improved method of cleaning oily, greasy and other hydrocarbon-containing soils from fabrics which is both efficacious and cost effective and which can be performed using standard laundry washing machines would represent an important advance in the art.